Cast of the “Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City” musical in San Francisco (May 2011)
May 5, 1921
On this date in 1921, Dorothy Louise Taliaferro “Del” Martin, later a founder of the Daughters of Bilitis, was born in San Francisco.
May 30, 1926
On this date in 1926, Christine Jorgensen, the first person in the United States widely known for having sex reassignment surgery, was born in New York.
May 22, 1930
On this date in 1930, Harvey Milk was born on Long Island, New York.
May 21, 1935
On this date in 1935, Jane Addams, a social worker and suffragette now honored on Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk, died in Illinois.
May 4, 1958
On this date in 1958, artist and social activist Keith Haring, who is honored on Castro’s Rainbow Honor Walk, was born in Pennsylvania.
May 27, 1960
On this date, the Daughters of Bilitis hosted their first national convention in San Francisco from May 27th to 30th, 1960, which attracted 200 women. The convention merits a mention in Herb Caen’s column in the San Francisco Chronicle.
May 12, 1975
On this date in 1975, Governor Jerry Brown signed the Consenting Adults Sex Bill decriminalizing California’s sodomy laws.
May 24, 1976
The first installment of Armistead Maupin’s “Tales of the City” was first published in the San Francisco Chronicle on this date in 1976.
May 21, 1979
On this date in 1979, Dan White was convicted of lesser charges for killing Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. Gays rioted at City Hall and police responded by rioting in the Castro in what was later called the White Night Riots.
May 30, 1987
On this date in 1987, Barney Frank of Massachusetts became the first member of Congress to voluntarily come out.
May 3, 1989
On this date in 1989, Christine Jorgensen died of cancer a month before her 63rd birthday.
May 24, 1993
On this date in 1993, the U.S. Senate confirmed former San Francisco Supervisor Roberta Achtenberg to the position of Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, making her the first openly-LGBT person to receive a Senate confirmation hearing despite fierce opposition by Senate Republicans, including North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms who famously referred to her as “That damn lesbian!”
May 20, 1996
On this date in 1996, the US Supreme Court struck down Colorado’s initiative banning gay rights ordinances.
May 17, 2004
On this date in 2004, Massachusetts becomes the first state to allow same-sex marriages.
May 9, 2007
On this date in 2007, Theresa Sparks became President of the Police Commission, the first trans* president of any San Francisco commission.
May 15, 2008
On this date in 2008, the California Supreme Court rules in favor of San Francisco’s lawsuit and allows same-sex couples to marry in California.
May 18, 2011
The first previews opened on this date in 2011 for Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, a musical adaptation of Maupin’s book, with book by Jeff Whitty and the score by Jake Shears and John “JJ” Garden. The show ran through July 31, 2011.
